


Someday

by Missne



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-24
Updated: 2012-10-24
Packaged: 2017-11-16 23:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missne/pseuds/Missne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Shino experiences a weak moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someday

**Author's Note:**

> This has been posted on fanfiction.net previously, and was mine on there as well. I don't own these characters, Mr. Kishimoto does.

As the final blow of Hinata's attack hit him clear in the chest, he tumbled backwards and slammed into a tree. It only took a moment for her to arrive at his side, index fingers shyly touching together, looking down on him with a worried look.

\- Sh-Shino-kun? Are you alright?

He was distracted today, but he didn't think it was this bad. Hinata was fast, and stronger than ever, yet his fall had been his own fault.

\- Yes.

He took a deep breath, leaning his head back on the thick trunk behind him, closing his eyes for a moment. Hinata stood beside him, insecure as always, deciding whether to stay near him or give him space.

\- Would you like some water?

\- Yes please. I'm alright, Hinata, really.

She bit her lip, hesitating, then hurried off, and he let his head fall forward. Resting his elbows on his knees, he allowed himself a momentary gesture of defeat while her back was turned.

With his head bowed down like this, his world became black. The sunglasses along with his high collar blocked out any sunlight, and for a moment he could almost hear the soft whispering sound from within him as the kikaichu tended to his bruises and his disturbed chakra points. Temporarily encased in the soft velvet darkness of his coat, his everyday defenses were stripped down, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep back the sudden burning of tears.

His thoughts went on a rampage, for once freed of his normal self control, bombarding him with flashes of pain and loneliness, evidence that he was worthless, true glimpses of what people thought of him, thought of his appearance and his bugs. He could see the way the Konoha villagers viewed him and his family, the way Kiba had jolted away the first time he realized the bugs lived IN him, not just in his clothes but in his body. He could see Hinata's worried eyes following the trace of the surfacing bugs in the first stages of his attacks, looking straight at him but not seeing him at all, merely the shiny black husks of the kikaichu as they poured out of him in thick streams. He thought back to Naruto's return from his training with the Sannin and his less than friendly way of greeting him, back to the kids in the academy during his childhood years, always keeping their distance to him, worried they might catch something by just being near him.

Like he was a plague, a vessel, containing nothing but disgusting bugs; no flesh existed, no blood, no heart... No emotions.

Taking a shivering breath, he brushed the back of his hands over his cheeks, making sure there were no outside evidence of his momentary lapse for when Hinata returned. He reined in his emotions again – oh, they existed – tucking them back where nobody could see them, and took another breath. Deeply inhaling, he closed his eyes, repeating in his head what he'd told himself countless other times in similar situations.

He would be a valuable teammate, a powerful ally, a good son, an excellent shinobi, a proud Aburame, a trustworthy human being.

And maybe, someday, someone would let him be a true friend.


End file.
